Drug stocks reverse direction as FTSE climbs

Drug stocks have turned around UK stockmarket activity this morning, rather than hamper it, as optimism is growing the worst of the share slump is now over. The FTSE 100 Index added 4.1 points to 4656.5 after declining by 1% the two previous days. The index would have fallen five points without gains by GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. GlaxoSmithKline saw its share price leap 33p or 2.4% to £14.15, after previously falling 14%, while AstraZeneca added 10p to £27.80. Not all was good news, however. Reuters slipped 17.5p, or 4.3%, to 386p after announcing the financial informat...